Not All Science is "Progress"

The painting Two Ambiguous Figures by Max Ernst caught my eye the minute I turned the page in my Humanities book. The first thing that came to my mind was an image from a science fiction movie where the earth is being invaded by extraterrestrial creatures. When you look at the painting it is not hard to see the two "creatures" staring back at you. A closer look shows that the two figures are really only pieces of science equipment that could be found in a chemistry lab that have been stacked on top of each other. While Ernst does not even give his creatures a mouth to help indicate a happy or sad mood, I get a sense of evil when I look at them.
         On page 58 of the book, it reads, "Ernst's machinelike  monsters are suspiciously reminiscent of the gas-masked soldiers that he encountered during his four year stint in the German infantry." To me this picture shows the way that war became even more brutal than before in World War I with the deadly new weapons, such as poison gas, which were created through scientific "progress." I believe that war may be necessary in order to keep our country safe, but I also know that it is a horrible and traumatic experience. Without including any humans, blood, or weapons, Max Ernst was able to do an excellent job of representing the horrors of war. His work does an excellent job of compiling common laboratory equipment representing science, with goggles in order to give the appearance of sadistic killing machines.